Shipping Dangerous Goods/Hazardous Materials

You must be trained and certified to ship hazardous materials if you are involved with a shipment of hazardous materials via land, air or sea. There are prescriptive requirements for packaging and labeling of hazardous materials and for the associated documentation used in the event of an emergency. There are fines for lack of certification and improper packaging and, worse, a chance for loss of life and property. You may be jailed if you show that you willfully ignored shipping requirements. Even if you ask someone else to package the shipment, you must be trained because you know what the hazardous material is and therefore have some responsibility for it.

OSU-CHS Office of Research is the university’s designated shipper of hazardous materials. Any OSU-CHS student, staff, or faculty member who intends to offer dangerous goods for transportation or shipment must either be a trained and certified dangerous goods shipper or must contact the Office of Research for assistance.

Shipping Chemicals: Department of Homeland Security Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards require facilities storing or shipping certain chemicals to identify the facility and the chemicals through a registration with DHS, prepare Security Vulnerability Assessments, which identify facility security vulnerabilities, and to develop and implement Site Security Plans. Because of these regulations, shipping ANY QUANTITY of the following chemicals requires compliance with these requirements, and therefore shipment of these chemicals by University employees is prohibited unless prior arrangements are made and approved by the Office of Research. For a complete list of the chemicals, please refer to the Chemicals of Interest list developed by DHS.

Shipping Biologicals: Classifying your biological material is the first step in complying with Federal and International shipping regulations. For assistance in classifying your biological material, please refer to the Division 6.2 – Infectious Substance Classification or use this flowchart. Once you have classified your biological material, complete a Shipping Request Form and submit it to the Office of Research.

Shipping Non-Regulated Biological Materials: A non-regulated biological sample is a material that does not pose a hazard to human health, the environment or to property. It is non-infectious, non-hazardous and non-toxic. Biological samples can be of human, animal, plant or other (bacterial, fungal, yeast, etc.) origin. Examples include; DNA, antibodies, purified enzymes, etc. Directions on packaging and shipping non-regulated samples.

Shipping on dry ice: DRY ICE IS A DANGEROUS GOOD! Shipping any material on dry ice must be done through the Office of Research. If you are shipping a non-regulated material on regular ice, you may ship it yourself.

Domestic shipments: When you are asking for assistance to ship a domestic package containing dangerous goods you must contact the Office of Research at least two days before you are requesting the shipment to be sent. Complete the Shipping Request form and submit it to Office of Research.

Office of Research ships dangerous goods packages exclusively with FedEx.

If you have not shipped dangerous goods packages out before, Office of Research will assist you in describing what you need to do to prepare your shipment. You may be required to purchase special dangerous goods packaging specific to your shipment. You should consult with the Office of Research regarding packing requirements.

International shipments: When you are asking for assistance to ship an international package containing dangerous goods you must contact the Office of Research at least a week prior to the day you are requesting the shipment to be sent. This is needed so that a certified shipper can contact the FedEx International help desk to determine what documentation is needed to import the package to the country of destination. There are several specific customs issues when shipping dangerous goods to foreign countries. Specific forms may need to be completed by you or by the Office of Research prior to shipment.

Some countries may not accept a certain dangerous good. The country, and city, of destination of your shipment may not routinely be serviced by FedEx and a freight shipment may be required. This adds more time and effort to preparing your shipment, due to freight rules and regulations, so your patience in these instances is appreciated. You may be required to purchase special dangerous goods packaging specific to your shipment. You should consult with the Office of Research regarding packing requirements.